Melodies from the green farms [Archives:2006/942/Last Page]
Ismail Al-Ghaberi
Villagers in Yemen are not only known for their diversified agriculture customs, but are also well-famed for their different musical styles bestowed on them by the countryside environment.
Yemeni rural territories enjoy unique multi-faceted folkloric implications including rural music that has enriched people's culture over the ages and are deeply rooted in the personality of the Yemeni villager despite foreign influence, historical eras and local hardships.
Yemeni folkloric songs and melodies are special and unique in the sense that they are reflecting an exquisite musical style illustrating and distinguishing the people's life in Yemen with all its peculiarities. For instance, farmers have their own styles and rhythms, and so do laborers, fishermen tc.
There are songs for happy occasions like marriage, and sad ones that express hardships displaying inner sentiments of the people of different social segments. Even children have their own melodies and rhymes.
Despite the fact that the Yemeni rural music can be said to be variant and multi-dimensional in its rhythms, which is due to the diversification of terrains and environment, most of the music have one aspect in common, this is nature and love for the land.
The environment, nature of work, and living styles all are implied in the musical style of people and express in a very magnificent way their psychological interaction with the environment around them, whether plain agricultural, marine, or mountainous lands.
The rhythmic styles as well as poetry composed express the human experience of people living in different terrains and all this differentiations contribute in complementary way to the spiritual integration of Yemeni People living in a unified country.
There are established musical movements or schools in different parts of Yemen. For instance, AlQumandan musical style in Lahj, Mohammed Juma Khan in Hadmaout, Ayoob Taresh in Taiz.
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